Wire drawing apparatus



1966 P. R. LATHOM ETAL 3,280,611

WIRE DRAWING APPARATUS 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed NOV. 5, 1963 Oct. 25, 1966 P. R. LATHOM ETAL 3,230,611

WIRE DRAWING APPARATUS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

Filed Nov. 5, 1963 United States Patent 3,280,611 WIRE DRAWING APPARATUS Paul R. Lathom, William R. Latllom, and Gust V. Arvidson, Rockford, Ill., assignors to Fastener Engineers, Inc., Rockford, Ill., a corporation of Illinois Filed Nov. 5, 1963, Ser. No. 321,474 9 Claims. (Cl. 72-289) This invention relates to improvements in wire drawing apparatus.

An important object of this invention is to provide a wire drawing apparatus having an improved wire pulling drum which effectively overcomes the problems of wear encountered due to slippage of the wire on the drum, and which drum is yet easy to fabricate and is economical to manufacture.

A more particular object of this invention is to provide, in a wire drawing apparatus, an improved wire pulling drum having a peripheral drive surface and flanges at each end of the drive surface, in which one flange is formed integral with the body of the drum and in which the other flange and at least a major portion of the drive surface is formed on a demountable ring of tool steel to simplify the casting and machining of the drum parts and to minimize the amount of tool steel required.

Another object of this invention is to provide, in a wire drawing apparatus, an improved 'Wire pulling drum in which the width of the wire pulling surface can be changed when necessary to accommodate wire of different size or type.

Further objects of this invention are to provide a wire drawing apparatus which is of simple and compact construction; which can be readily moved from place to place for use with different machines; and which has an improved guard and wire guide to prevent injury to persons or property near the machine in the event that there is a fracture or severance of the wire as it passes through the drawing machine.

These, together with other objects and advantages of this invention will be more readily appreciated as the same becomes better understood by reference to the following detailed description, when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a top plan view of the wire drawing apparatus;

FIG. 2 is a front elevational view of the wire drawing apparatus;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary sectional view taken on the plane 33 of FIG. I;

FIG. 4 is a side elevational view of the wire drawing apparatus;

FIG. 5 is a sectional view through the wire drawing drum, taken on the plane 5-5 of FIG. 4; and

FIG. 6 is an exploded assembly view of the wire pulling drum.

Referring more specifically to the accompanying drawings, the wire pulling apparatus is mounted on a generally horizontal base 10, conveniently formed of a heavy steel plate 11 having a marginal stiffening and reinforcing flange. The base is preferably formed with a generally triangular configuration, as best shown in FIG. 1, and includes forward and rear ends 13 and 14, opposed sides 15 and 16 and a side 17 that extends generally diagonally between the rear end 14 and the side 16. For reasons pointed out hereinafter, the side 15 is preferably cut includes laterally spaced generally upright panels 22 and 23 which are interconnected at their forward ends by a panel 24, and their upper ends by a wall 25. A drawing die support box 26 is mounted on the upper end of the pedestal 21 by a pin or fastener 27, for limited horizontal swinging movement relative to the pedestal to enable alignment of the drawing die with the wire pulling drum. The die support box has a conventional wire drawing die 28 mounted therein and openings are provided in the box to permit the wire to be passed through the drawing die.

The drive mechanism for the wire pulling drum is advantageously in the form of a self contained unit which includes a speed reducing mechanism 31 enclosed in a housing and mounted on the base 10 adjacent the forward edge 13 thereof. A variable speed drive or speed change mechanism 32 is connected to the speed reducing mechanism 31 and is enclosed in a housing which extends upwardly from the speed reducing mechanism. A drive motor 33 is operatively connected to the speed change mechanism 32 and is conveniently disposed above the speed reducing mechanism 31. Thus, the motor 33 is supported by the housing for the variable speed drive 32 and the latter is in turn supported on the housing for the speed reducing mechanism 31, to provide a very compact overall assembly. The variable speed drive may be of any conventional construction and may, for example,

be of the type employing pairs of adjustable sheaves which are interconnected by V-belts and are adjustable by means of a crank 32, to enable selective adjustment of the speed at which the wire pulling drum is rotated.

The speed reducing mechanism 31 has a generally horizontal output shaft 35 which extends laterally from the side 15 of the base and the wire pulling drum, designated generally by the numeral 36, is non-rotatably connected to the shaft for rotation therewith in a generally vertical plane. The drum 36 has a generally cylindrical pulling surface 37 and inner and outer flanges 38 and 39 adjacent the inner and outer edges thereof. As shown in FIG. 4, the drum is radially positioned so that its upper periphery extends generally tangent to a line through the drawing die 28. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the drum is axially positioned so that the inner flange 38, at its juncture with the pulling surface 37, is in approximate alignment with the drawing die 28. In use, the wire designated W is passed from the drawing die and around the drum, in the direction of rotation thereof, a preselected number of turns sufficient to produce a snubbing action on the drum and enable the drum to exert the pulling force required to draw the wire through the die. The number of turns or wraps of wire around the drum will vary somewhat for different sizes and types of wire, and, in general, the higher carbon wires require a greater number of turns in order to produce an adequate snubbing action. Thus, for ordinary wire, it is desirable to provide around eight to ten turns of wire :on the drum, and to provide additional turns for higher carbon rods. The wire will remain firmly snubbed against the drum only if some tension is applied to the last coil as it leaves the drum. Whenever tension is released on the last turn on the drum, the coil of wire on the drum will tend to unwind slightly suflicient to release thesnubbing action and allow the drum to turn relative to the coil. Since the machines with which the drawing apparatus is associated commonly operate intermittently to pull the wire through a very short distance in stepped fashion, provision is made for maintaining a yieldable tension on the last coil on the drum. As shown in FIG. 4, the end of the wire designated W from the drum is passed over an idler Wheel 41 and is then curved upwardly as indicated at W" over the top of the drum from whence it extends to the machine which uses the wire. The idler wheel 41 is supported for movement along a path toward and away from the wire pulling drum 36 and, advantageously, is

3 rotatably supported on an arm 42 which is pivotally supported on a shaft 43 for movement in a vertical plane alongside the support pedestal 21. The shaft 43 is conveniently rotatably mounted in the side panels 22 and 23 of the pedestal. As shown in FIG. 4, the arm 42 includes first and second relatively adjustable sections which enable adjustment of the spacing between the roller 41 and the shaft 43, and which sections are secured together by a fastener 45. The roller 41 is yieldably urged in a direction away from the drum by springs 46 and 47. The springs are otherwise anchored on a pressure equalizing bracket 48 which is pivotally mounted at 49 on the pedestal for movement about an axis paralleling the axis of the shaft 43. As shown, the arm 42 and the bracket 48 each have rows of spaced holes 42,, 48' respectively and the springs 46 and 47 extend be tween selected ones of these holes. Additionalsprings can be employed and arranged to extend between other ones of the holes in the arm and bracket, if desired to provide additional tension on the wire, In addition, the adjustment of the effective length of the arm 42 also correspondingly varies the pressure applied to the wire W as it leaves the drum.

Since the wire W is generally resilient, it will tend to rapidly uncoil from the drum in the event the wire is fractured or severed. In order to prevent injury or damage to persons or property in the area of the wire drawing apparatus, in the event of such a rupture in the wire, a guard'52 is provided. In the embodiment shown, the guard 52 includes an arcuate plate 53 which is supported by brackets 54 at the inner side of the drum. A plurality of straps, herein shown three in number and designated 55 are attached to the plate 53 and extend outwardly over the top of the drum, and terminate in inwardly extending fingers 56 at the outer side of the drum. The arms are thus positioned so as to engage the wire to limit the uncoiling of the same, inthe event the wire breaks. Since the arms are supported in cantilever fashion at the in-' nerside of the drum, the arms do not interfere with handling of the wire W during starting of the Wire around the drum. Moreover, since the guard 52 overlies the top of the drum, it also underlies the section W" of the wire as it leaves the idler wheel 41 and passes forwardly to the machine that uses the wire. In this manner, the guard also functions to prevent the section W" of the wire from rubbing against the wire on the periphery of the drum.

The wire W as it leaves the drawing die engages the inner flange on the drum, and, as the wire is wrapped around the drum, the coils of wire on the drum move axially along the drum toward the outer flange. If the speed of the drawing apparatus is accurately controlled as by the speed control adjustment 32' so that the average rate of movement of the wire through the drawing apparatus'is equal to the rate at which the wire is consumed by the machine associated with the drawing apparatus, then the arm 42 and roller 41 will function to maintain tension on the last coil of wire as it leaves the drum, to properly snub the coil of wire against the drum. However, if the average rate of feed of the drawing apparatus exceeds that of the machine associated therewith, then the slack in the loop of wire that passes over the idler. wheel 41 will build up until the tension in the springs 46 and 47 is relieved. At that time, tension on the last coil of 'wire on the drum is also released so that the drum can turn relative to the wire. This movement of the coils of wire along the drum and the turning of the drum relative to the coils tends to produce a wearing action on the inner flange 38 and on the wire pulling surface 37 of the drum. The drawing drums are relatively large and massive and it has heretofore been the practice to make the drums of a low cost material such as cast iron. Cast iron, however, does not provide the needed wear characteristics and it was therefore necessary to periodically remove the drum from the wire drawing apparatus and refinish the surface 37 and flanges on the drum. However, such drums could only be refinished a limited number of times before it was necessary to replace the drum.

In accordance with the present invention, the wire drawing drum is formed in several pieces. The main body of the drum is formed in an integral cast body of low cost material such as castiron. However, the vwear.-v

ing surface 37 and the other of the flanges 38 is formed of wear resistant tool steel. Although the cost of tool steel per pound, and the cost of casting, heat treating and machining the same is very high as compared to the cast iron, the drum construction of the present invention is arranged to minimize the amount of high cost tool steel required and to simplify the casting and machining of the same, to thereby minimize the overall cost of the drum While yet providing good wear, resistant characteristics.- More particularly, the main body of the drum is formedmajor portion of the wire pulling surface 37 and the,

inner flange38 are formed on a cast tool steel ring 65, which ring is detachably secured to the main cast body of the drum. Since only one of the flanges 38, is formed integrally with the ring 65, casting of the ring is markedly facilitated and similarly, the amount of machining required is also reduced. The ring, when machined, includes a sleeve portion having generally cylindrical inner surface 65 which is slidably supported on the surface 63 of the rim. The outer surface 37 of the sleeve portion of the ring is made generally cyindrical but with the flange 38 toward the other end of the surface 37, to

facilitate movement of the turns of wire axially of the drum as the wire is wound thereon. The flange 38 extends outwardly from one end of the sleeve portion'of the ring and has a bevelled inner surface to guide the wire toward the wire pulling surface 37.

The ring is detachably secured to the cast body by fasteners. In the preferred form, the fasteners are in the form of cap screws 68 which extend throughopenings 69 in the flange 39 and into tapped openings 71 in the ring. The fasteners thus extend parallel to the axis of the ring and draw thesame axially against the shoulder 63 on the rim 63.

In order to adapt the wire drawing apparatus for handling larger diameter wires, which occupy more space on the drum, and also for handling higher carbon rods which require a greater number of turns on the drum, it is sometimes desirable to increase the axial length of the wire pulling surface on the drum. This is conveniently achieved with the present drum construction by the provision of a further ring designated 73, also preferably formed of tool steel, and which is interposed between the ring 65 and the shoulder 63" on the rim of thecast body. The ring has inner and outer diameters respectively corresponding to the inner and outer diameters of the sleeve portion of the ring 65 and is supported by the.

cylindrical portion 63' on the cast body. The ring 73 has openings 74 therein to allow the cap screws 68 to pass there through. Obviously, when using the ring 73,

It is frequently desirable to use the wire drawing ap-- paratus with different machines at different times. It has been found that the Wire drawing apparatus can be sup ported on wheels to enable ready movement of the machine from place to place, and yet operate in a stable manner with the following described wheel and anchor arrangement. The base is supported at its forward end on wheels 81 and 82 which are mounted by brackets 83 and 84 on the base for rotation about fixed axes that extend parallel to the axis of the drum 35 and are preferably aligned with each other in a direction crosswise of the machine. The base is supported at its rear end by a caster wheel which is swivelly supported by a caster bracket 89 on the underside of the base, adjacent the rear end 14. With this wheel and caster arrangement, the wire drawing apparatus can be readily moved into proper position at different machines. Only a single floor anchor is required, which floor anchor designated 91 is mounted as by a bracket 92 at the rear end of the base, at the side thereof adjacent the pedestal so as to be in approximate alignment with the path of movement of the wire thruogh the wire drawing apparatus. The floor anchor may be of any conventional construction and may be foot or hand operated. In the simplified form of floor anchor shown, the floor anchor is in the form of a screw which can be manually turned to move the fioor engaging head 91 into and out of engagament with the fioor.

The drive mot-or 33 is operated under the control of a switch mechanism designated generally by the numeral 93 having an operating handle 93. The switch 93 is manually operable under the control of handle 93' to start and stop the drive motor, and the speed adjusting mechanism is adjustable by the crank 32 to adjust the speed of the drum and hence the rate at which the wire is drawn through the wire drawing machine. The speed of the drum is adjusted so as to at least equal and preferably slightly exceed the rate at which the wire is consumed by the machine associated with the drawing apparatus, so as to assure adequate supply of drawn wire. Whenever the slack in the loop of wire that extends over the idler wheel becomes excessive, the tension on the wire on the drum is relaxed so that the drum can turn relative to the coils of wire thereon to interrupt feeding of the wire until the machine associated with the drawing apparatus consumes the excess wire. In order to reduce the wear incident to turning of the drum relative to the coils of wire, provision is made for starting and stopping the drive motor automatically in the event the slack loop becomes excessive. As shown in FIG. 3, a pair of switches designated 95 and 96 are provided and have actuators 95 and 96' respectively. A switch operating arm 97 is connected to the shaft 43 and moves downwardly when the slack loop becomes excessive to operate the switch actuator 95. The switch 95 is arranged, when actuated, to stop the drive motor 33 and the switch 96 is operated when the wire again pulls on the arm 42 to lift the same. The switch 96 is arranged to restart the motor 33. The switches 95 and 96 may be connected to operate the motor as described above, in any desired manner, and may, for example, be employed to operate a main motor control relay (not shown).

From the foregoing it will be seen that the wire drawing apparatus is compact and is readily movable from place to place to enable use of the wire drawing apparatus with different machines. The wire drawing drum is formed with a tool steel wire pulling surface and flange to minimize wear. Since only one of the flanges is formed on the tool steel ring, casting the machining of the ring is facilitated and the amount of high cost tool steel which is used is minimized to reduce the overall cost of the drum. Moreover, by the addition of additional rings such as 73, the width of the wire pulling surface can be increased to accommodate larger diameter rods and also higher carbon rods which require a greater number of turns. The combination guard and guide 52 overlies the upper periphery of the drum to not only prevent rapid uncoiling of the wire on the drum in the event of breakage, but to also prevent rubbing of the section of the Wire W on the drum as it passes over the top of the same.

While the drawings show a preferred embodiment of the invention, it is understood that this invention is not limited to the details of construction of the device specifically shown, but includes all such variations and modifications as fall within the scope of the appended claims.

We claim:

1. In a wire drawing apparatus including a drum drive mechanism, a wire drawing die, and a drum connected to the drive mechanism to be driven thereby for drawing wire through the die;

said drum having a peripheral drive surface and first and second flanges at opposite ends of the peripheral drive surface;

characterized in that the drum includes an integral cast body and a detachable tool steel ring;

the cast body having a hub portion, an outwardly extending web portion, and one of said flanges;

said ring including a sleeve portion forming at least a major portion of the drive surface on the drum and having the other of said flanges formed integrally with one end of the sleeve portion;

and means detachably securing said ring to said body.

2. In a wire drawing apparatus including a drum drive mechanism, a wire drawing die, and a drum connected to the drive mechanism to be driven thereby for drawing wire through the die;

said drum having a peripheral drive surface and first and second flanges at opposite ends of the peripheral drive surface;

characterized in that the drum includes an integral cast body and a detachable tool steel ring; the cast body having a hub portion, an outwardly extending web portion defining a generally cylindrical rim, and said first flange at one end of said rim;

said ring having a sleeve portion closely surrounding said cylindrical rim to be supported thereby and said second flange formed integrally with the sleeve portion at one end thereof, said sleeve portion forming at least a major portion of said peripheral drive surface on the drum;

and means detachably securing said ring to said body.

3. In a wire drawing apparatus including a drum drive mechanism, a wire drawing die, and a drum connected to the drive mechanism to be driven thereby for drawing wire through the die;

said drum having a peripheral drive surface and first and second flanges at opposite ends of the peripheral drive surface;

characterized in that the drum includes an integral cast body and a detachable tool steel ring;

the cast body having a hub portion, an outwardly extending web portion defining a generally cylindrical rim, and said first flange at one end of said rim;

said ring having a sleeve portion closely surrounding said cylindrical rim to be supported thereby and said second flange formed integrally with the sleeve portion at one end thereof, said sleeve portion forming at least a major portion of said peripheral drive surface on the drum;

a second ring having inner and outer diameters corresponding to the inner and outer diameters of said sleeve portion and interposed between said sleeve portion and said first flange on the cast body;

and fasteners extending through the first flange and through the second ring and into the first ring for securing the first and second rings to the body.

4. In a wire drawing apparatus including a drum drive mechanism, a wire drawing die, and a drum connected to the drive mechanism to be driven thereby for drawing wire through the die;

said drum having a peripheral drive surface and first and second flanges at opposite ends of the peripheral drive surface;

characterized in that the drum includes an integral cast body and a detachable tool steel ring;

the castbody having a hub portion, an outwardly extending web portion, a peripheral rim portion, and said first flange at one end of said rim portion;

said rim portion having a generally cylindrical outer wall and an outwardly extending shoulder at the end of said cylindrical wall adjacent said first flange;

said ring having a sleeve portion closely surrounding said cylindrical wall on said rim to be supported thereby, said second flange being formed integrally with one end of the ring;

and fasteners extending through said first flange and into said sleeve portion of said ring for detachably securing the ring, to the cast body.

5. In a wire drawing apparatus including a generally 1 horizontal base;

a wire drawing drum disposed in a vertical plane adjacent one side of the base;

means including a motor and speed reducer mechanism mounted on the base for supporting the drawing drum for rotation in an upright plane at one side of the base and for driving the drum;

a die support pedestal mounted on the base and extending upwardly therefrom;

said drum having a peripheral drive surface and inner and outer flanges at the ends of the drum which are respectively adjacent said base and remote from said base;

characterized in that the drum includes an integral cast body and a detachable tool steel ring;

the cast body having a hub portion, an outwardly extending web portion and the outer one of said flanges;

said ring having a sleeve portion forming at least a major portion of said drive surface on the drum and the inner of said flanges formed integrally with one end of the sleeve portion;

and means detachably securing said ring to said body.

6. A wire drawingapparatus comprising, a generally horizontal base;

a wire drawing drum disposed in a vertical plane at one side of the base;

a drive unit including a motor, a variable speed drive and a speed reducer mechanism mounted on the base adjacent one end for supporting the drum for rotation about a horizontal axis and for driving the drum;

a die support pedestal mounted on said baseand extending upwardly at said one side of the base at a point spaced horizontally from the periphery of the drum, a wire drawing die mounted on said pedestal with its axis disposed at a level adjacent the top of the drum and spaced horizontally in one direction from the periphery of the drum;

an idler wheel mounted for movement alongside the pedestal in a path toward and away from the drawing drum, said idler wheel being disposed at a level intermediate the top and bottom of the drum and spaced in said one direction from the periphery of the drum to have a loop of wire from the drum pass thereover and then back over the top of the drum;

and means yieldably urging said idler wheel in a direction away from said drum to maintain tension on the wire as it leaves the drum.

7. A wire drawing apparatus comprising, a generally horizontal base;

a wire drawing drum disposed in a vertical plane adjacent one side of the base;

means including a motor and speed reducer mechanism mounted on said base adjacent one end for supporting the drawing drum for rotation about a horizontal axis and for driving the drawing drum;

a die support pedestal mounted on said base and extending upwardly therefrom at said one side of the base, a wire drawing die mounted on said pedestal with its axis disposed at a level adjacent theftop of the drum and spaced horizontally in one direction from the periphery of the drum;

an idler wheel mounted for movement alongside the pedestal in a path toward and away from the drawing drum, said idler wheel being disposed at a level intermediate the top and bottom of the drum and spaced in said one direction from the periphery of the drum to have a loop of the wire from the drum pass thereover; and then back over the top of the drum;

yieldable means for urging the idler wheel in a direction to maintain tension on the wire as it leaves the drum;

and a combinationwire guard and guide mounted to overlie the upper periphery of said drawing drum to inhibit uncoiling of the wire on the drawing drum in the event of breakage of the wire and to prevent the wire that extends from the idler wheel from riding on the top of the drawing drum.

8. The combination of claim 7 wherein said guard is supported at only the inner side of the drum and includes a portion extending crosswise of the upper periphery of the drum and a port-ion extending inwardly toward the drum at the outer side of the drum.

9. A wire drawing apparatus comprising, a generally horizontal base;

a wire drawing drum disposed in a vertical plane adjacent one side of the base;

a drive unit including a motor, variable speed drive and speed reducer mechanism mounted on said base adjacent one end for supporting the drawing drum for rotation about a horizontal axis and for driving the drawing drum;

a die support pedestal mounted on said base and extending upwardly at said one side of the base and at a point adjacent the other end of the base, a wire drawing die mounted on said pedestal;

a pair of support wheels mounted on said base adjacent said one end for rotation about axes paralleling the axis of rotation of said drum, a caster wheel mounted on the base adjacent the other end thereof;

and a selectively operable floor engaging member mounted on said base at said other end and at a point closely adajcent said pedestal for anchoring said wire drawing apparatus in a preselected position.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 346,709 8/1886 Benbow 20520 353,975 12/1886 Shearer 205-16 1,918,237 7/ 1933 Alden 205-20 2,368,153 1/1945 'Mog 20'520 2,963,145 12/1960 Bruestle 20-52O FOREIGN PATENTS 644,996 5/1937 Germany.

CHARLES W. LANHAM, Primary Examiner.

H. D. HOINKES, Assistant Examiner. 

